Vesicular Stomatitis has been confirmed in Texas and Kansas

Good morning California Equine Practitioners,

Vesicular Stomatitis has been confirmed in Texas and Kansas.

Below are the case details and new entry requirements for horses, cattle, sheep, goat and swine entering California from a VS Affected State.

Situation Update

On October 23, 2019, the National Veterinary Services Laboratories in Ames, Iowa confirmed a finding of VSV infection (Indiana serotype) on a premises in Sherman County, Kansas. Three of 5 horses on the premises are showing clinical signs of VSV and one of the horses has met confirmed case definition of an index case in a new state with a VSV-positive complement fixation titer of 1:40 or greater. Two of the affected horses are also PCR-positive for VSV-Indiana. There are 14 cattle on the premises that are clinically unaffected and the premises is currently under state quarantine. This is the 2019 VSV index case for Kansas.

Additionally, during the last week, a new confirmed premises has been identified in Collin County, Texas. Note, Texas entry requirements had been rescinded on Monday October 21, 2019, as the state had released all quarantines and had no confirmed cases in the prior 30 days.

Current, VS Affected states include: Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Texas, Utah and Wyoming.

Vesicular Stomatitis Requirements for Importing Horses, Cattle, Sheep, Goats and Swine into California

All horses, cattle, sheep, goat and swine *originating from any state where vesicular stomatitis (VS) has been diagnosed (except cattle and swine transported directly to slaughter) must be accompanied by a health certificate (certificate of veterinary inspection) and signed by an accredited veterinarian that includes the following statement:

“I have examined all the animals identified on this certificate within 72 hours of shipment date and found them to be free from signs of Vesicular Stomatitis (VS). During the last thirty (30) days, these animals have not been exposed to VS nor located on a VS confirmed or a VS suspected premises.”

*For purposes of this requirement, “originating” means horses, cattle, sheep, goats, and swine that initially leave the VS infected state and come to California, or those that leave any state, visit an infected state, and then return to California.

The California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) has no additional requirements, at this time, on horses coming from a VS-infected area to enter race tracks and/or CHRB-approved training centers. For more information, contact CHRB at 916-263-6000.

Trailer Loading Awareness Course

Saturday Sept 7th, 2019 8:15am to 12:30pm

Full event details found by clicking the flyer below or by clicking here

Sonoma County Horse Council Trailer Loading Awareness Course

PROTECTING YOUR HORSE FROM SMOKE INHALATION

• Limit exercise when smoke is visible. Don’t have your horse do activities that increase the airflow in and out of the lungs. This can trigger bronchoconstriction (narrowing of the small airways in the lungs).

• Provide plenty of fresh water close to where your horse eats. Horses drink most of their water within 2 hours of eating hay, so having water close to the feeder increases water consumption. Water keeps the airways moist and facilitates clearance of inhaled particulate matter. This means the windpipe (trachea), large airways (bronchi), and small airways (bronchioles) can move the particulate material breathed in with the smoke. Dry airways make particulate matter stay in the lung and air passages.

• Limit dust exposure by feeding dust-free hay or soak hay before feeding. This reduces the particles in the dust such as mold, fungi, pollens and bacteria that may have difficulty being cleared from the lungs.

• If your horse is coughing or having difficulty breathing, have your horse examined by a veterinarian. A veterinarian can help determine the difference between a reactive airway from smoke and dust versus a bacterial infection and bronchitis or pneumonia. If your horse has a history of having heaves or recurrent airway problems, there is a greater risk of secondary problems such as bacterial pneumonia.

• If your horse has primary or secondary problems with smoke-induced respiratory injury, you should contact your veterinarian who can prescribe specific treatments such as intravenous fluids, bronchodilator drugs, nebulization, or other measures to facilitate hydration of the airway passages. Your veterinarian may also recommend blood tests or other tests to determine whether a secondary bacterial infection has arisen and is contributing to the current respiratory problem.

• Give your horse ample time to recover from smoke-induced airway insult. Airway damage resulting from wildfire smoke takes 4-6 weeks to heal. Ideally, plan on giving your horse that amount of time off from the time when the air quality returns to normal. Attempting exercise may aggravate the condition, delay the healing process, and compromise your horse’s performance for many weeks or months. While we recognize that owners and trainers of sport horses may want to return to work sooner than 4-6 weeks, Dr. Kent Pinkerton* recommends that horses return to exercise no sooner than 2 weeks post smoke-inhalation, following the clearance of the atmosphere of all smoke. Horses, like all other mammals, tend to have an irritation to particles, but will recover from the effects within a few days. With the devastation at San Luis Rey Downs (where 46 horses died, mostly from fire or smoke inhalation), it would be wise give the horses a break from exercise and then to gradually re-introduce them back to their routine exercise. On December 10, 2017, Dr. Rick Arthur, equine medical director at the UC Davis Kenneth L. Maddy Equine Analytical Chemistry Laboratory and at the California Horse Racing Board, issued an advisory on behalf of the CHRB regarding horses at the Del Mar racetrack.

• Air quality index (AQI) is used to gauge exercise/athlete event recommendations for human athletes. It may be reasonable to use those for equine athletes as well. For example, the National Collegiate Athletic Association lists the following recommendations on their website: “Specifically, schools should consider removing sensitive athletes from outdoor practice or competition venues at an AQI over 100. At AQIs of over 150, all athletes should be closely monitored. All athletes should be removed from outdoor practice or competition venues at AQIs of 200 or above.” During the Napa area fires, the Napa Valley Unified School District used the AQI to determine when students should return to school. They recommended 2 weeks off based on the AQI which was over 400 and took more than 10 days to resume normalcy.

#   #   #

*Dr. Kent Pinkerton is a professor in both the medical and veterinary medical schools at UC Davis. His research focuses are on the health effects of inhaled environmental air pollutants to alter respiratory, cardiovascular and neurological structure and function. Special areas of interest include the interaction of gases and airborne particles to produce cellular and structural changes within site-specific regions and cells of the respiratory tract in both acute and chronic timeframes of exposure.

ALERT: Vesicular Stomatitis Confirmed in 2019

By Katie Flynn, BVMS, MRCVS

On June 21, 2019, the National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) in Ames, Iowa, confirmed vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) infection (Indiana serotype) on a premises in Kinney County, Texas. VSV-Indiana serotype has not been diagnosed in the U.S. since 1998; all VSV cases from 2004-2016 have been VSV-New Jersey serotype. Since this detection, the virus has been confirmed in Tom Green County, Texas and Sandoval County, New Mexico. For the latest information and VS Fact Sheet visit: https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/ahfss/Animal_Health/VS.html

Any animal displaying signs compatible with vesicular stomatitis should be reported to your local CDFA AHB district office for investigation. A foreign animal disease diagnostician will be sent to the premises to examine the animal, collect appropriate samples, and conduct an epidemiologic investigation. The suspect animal will be quarantined until laboratory results determine the vesicular stomatitis status.

Requirements for Importing Horses, Cattle, Sheep, Goats and Swine into California from a Vesicular Stomatitis Affected State: All horses, cattle, sheep, goats and swine *originating from any state where vesicular stomatitis (VS) has been diagnosed (except cattle and swine transported directly to slaughter) must be accompanied by a health certificate (certificate of veterinary inspection) and signed by an accredited veterinarian that includes the following statement:

“I have examined all the animals identified on this certificate within 72 hours of shipment date and found them to be free from signs of Vesicular Stomatitis (VS). During the last thirty (30) days, these animals have not been exposed to VS nor located on a VS confirmed or a VS suspected premises.”

*For purposes of this requirement, “originating” means horses, cattle, sheep, goats, and swine that initially leave the VS infected state and come to California, or those that leave any state, visit an infected state, and then return to California. The California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) currently has no additional requirements on horses coming from a VS infected area to enter race tracks and/or CHRB-approved training centers. For more information, contact CHRB at 916-263-6000.

Emergency Preparedness Fair June 23rd, 2019

Be informed. Have a plan. Build your confidence. Learn what to do before disaster strikes at our FREE Emergency Preparedness Fair in Santa Rosa on June 23, from 1:00pm – 4:00pm; at Congregation Beth Ami, 4676 Mayette Avenue, Santa Rosa Find out more at jewishfed.org/EmergencyFair.

Save your own copy of the event fliers by clicking the images below.